Free Republic

OSLO, Norway -- A scientist considered the father of Iraq's nuclear program said Thursday that his nation would have developed atomic weapons in the early 1990s had Saddam Hussein not ordered the invasion of Kuwait. The invasion sparked the U.S.-led Operation Desert Storm in 1991, which drove Iraq out of Kuwait and marked the end of Baghdad's nuclear and biological weapons program, said Jafar Dhia Jafar, the scientific head of Iraq's nuclear weapons program. "By the end of 1990, about 8,000 people were involved directly or indirectly in the nuclear program," said Jafar, presenting his new Norwegian-language book, "Oppdraget", which...

SADDAM Hussein is holed up in a desert fortress with his generals preparing for a final bloody showdown, war commanders believe. US troops who swept into his home town of Tikrit were told by residents that Saddam was in the city four days ago. But he fled to the desert village of Al Hawijah with his family, aides and a personal army as Allied soldiers advanced on the city. The dictator left behind hundreds of Fedayeen paramilitaries to defend Tikrit and buy him some time — but they folded as US Marines moved in. Saddam has now turned Al Hawijah...

U.S. Interview Iraqi Nuclear Scientist By JOHN J. LUMPKIN .c The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - An Iraqi nuclear scientist has surrendered to authorities in a Middle Eastern country and is being interviewed by American officials, a U.S. official said Monday. Jafar Jafar is believed to know key people and locations of facilities connected to Iraq's nuclear weapons program, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The official declined to specify what country was holding him. He voluntarily turned himself in sometime during the last few days, the official said. He is the second high-level Iraqi scientist reported...